There was growing speculation last night that the search to find a successor for Mick McCarthy will end with Brian Kerr being unveiled as the new manager of the Republic of Ireland senior team in the middle of next week. Emmet Malone reports

It was confirmed yesterday that acting general secretary Kevin Fahy, president Milo Corcoran and treasurer John Delaney, the three FAI officers who had conducted the seven interviews, had agreed on the successful candidate after two hours of discussions while still in England late on Thursday evening. Although none would confirm the identity of the new man, there is a strong belief that the 49-year-old Dubliner has edged Philippe Troussier and the other candidates out in the race for the post.

Neither Kerr, who is in Abu Dhabi with the Irish under-20 team, nor his representatives back in Dublin, had heard anything from the FAI up until last night. But FAI sources said that it was not intended to make any contact with the chosen candidate until at least today, after which the hope is that the details of his contract can be hammered out in time to announce the appointment on Wednesday.

The Irish team, which yesterday beat France 1-0 to win the invitation tournament they were competing in this week, are expected back from the Emirates this evening, but Kerr is scheduled to stay on until Monday, when the draw for the World Youth Cup will take place.

A change in the manager's plans is possible, but Kerr's immediate return would probably prove unnecessary as he is represented by Fintan Drury Sports Management, who are likely to handle the bulk of the negotiations with the association.

Kerr's main rival for the job, Troussier, is said to have interviewed very well this week, with the Frenchman expressing strong ideas with regard to the way forward for the Irish team. But Kerr, who would have Tottenham coach Chris Hughton as his number two, is also said to have been impressive when he met with the interview panel prior to departing for the United Arab Emirates. Also, the immense popular support which he enjoys after a string of successes with Ireland's underage teams, most notably the European Youth and under-17 championship double achieved in 1998, will have made him an attractive option to an association that desperately needs to improve its public standing.

Within the interview panel, Fahy, whose background is in schoolboy football and who accompanied Kerr's squads on a number of their trips, including the one in 1999 to Nigeria for the last World Youth Cup, was always believed to be very positive about promoting the Dubliner.

Corcoran has also long been an admirer and, while Delaney and Kerr have had their differences, not least over the Eircom Park project which the manager enthusiastically supported, the association's treasurer said before Christmas that he had come around to the idea that the Irish youths boss would be a suitable candidate to make the step up to senior level.

In the end the three are said to have quickly reached a consensus on the issue when they met to consider their options on Thursday evening.

The business of negotiating the new man's terms of employment might have started yesterday but for the meeting of the association's board of management, which was called to consider allegations made against a senior figure within the game in relation to the payment of a €168,000 made to McCarthy last summer in Korea.

In the end, board members spent most of the day waiting for negotiations to conclude between the legal advisers to the association and to the person at the centre of the case.

When that finally happened, it was quickly agreed that the allegations should not presented until the person involved has had the opportunity to put together a written response which can be presented at the same time.

As a result, it was decided to adjourn the meeting until February 6th, when the board will gather yet again to hear from both parties. After that, it is almost certain that an investigation into the allegation, as well as the wider issue of the overall handling of McCarthy's last contract, will be initiated and many more meetings will follow.

Afterwards, Corcoran declined to give any detail of what had happened at the meeting, remarking only: "Given that it is only half over it would be inappropriate for me to say anything."

The continued threat of legal action prevented him from even confirming publicly what the meeting had been about.

Others were equally reluctant to be drawn on specifics, but St Patrick's Athletic chairman Andy O'Brien expressed anger that this latest round of in-fighting had once again distracted the association from the business of developing the game.

"We have another league club (Longford Town) in financial crisis at the moment and we should be talking about how to prevent things like that being a regular occurrence. Kids will still be changing on the sides of pitches this weekend and it is very frustrating that when we should be addressing issues like that we find ourselves over and over again having to deal with matters like this."

Asked about the timing of the allegations discussed yesterday, he said that he could not explain it, and added: "It would appear that the timing isn't coincidental".